


Family is found on the battlefield.

by ThatForestPrince



Series: Love is thicker than blood [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alien Culture, Dads of Marmora (Voltron), Gen, Past Child Abuse, kits are considered gender neutral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-10-22 16:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17665877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatForestPrince/pseuds/ThatForestPrince
Summary: A mission to investigate a distress signal turns out to be a lot more complicated than it seemed.





	1. Discovery.

**Author's Note:**

> Tags and rating will change as this is updated and those updates will not be frequent as I have a pretty busy schedule. This may just be a few chapters or it may be a series, we'll see. Hope you all enjoy the fic!

Antok woke with a start, gasping as he took in the surrounding scene. He was on the floor of a blade of marmora ship, one that was badly wrecked with wires hanging from the ceiling and its screens going haywire. What happened?

He stopped to close his eyes and breathe evenly, going over the events in his head. The blade had received a distress signal from one of their high officers who had been missing for months. It came from a small rocky planet that had barely any atmosphere and had shown no signs of trouble before. The blade was busy and Antok was one of the very few blades on hand, so Kolivan ordered him to investigate. Something had gone wrong as he entered the atmosphere but.. It was still fuzzy.

He needed to repair his ship, find out what had been transmitting the distress signal and get off this miserable little planet.

Within a few hours, Antok had quickly discovered his communications were down but he managed to get the emergency power back online and was able to transmit a distress signal of his own. Now, it was time to find out what had been in distress here in the first place.

 

\----------

 

Antok grunted lightly as he carefully made his way up a small rocky hill, wincing when he accidentally pulled lightly on the wounds in his side. As soon as he was at the top, he immediately observed a crashed blade of marmora craft about 300 feet in front of him. He frowns lightly, looking over all the damage done to the craft. It certainly didn’t look like it had been occupied recently.

He shook himself out of his thoughts, either way he needed to investigate. The large galra activated his marmora blade and slowly made his way down towards the ship.

 

\----------

 

Antok soon slowly makes a circuit around the craft, looking over its damage. It really didn’t look occupied, it looked like it had been completely untouched since its crash. If someone had been smart enough to put out a distress call couldn’t they have been smart enough to try to repair their craft? Antok growled quietly to himself. This was beginning to look like some kind of ambush but how could the person ambushing know the blade’s secret distress signal pattern? Finally, he presses his hand to the access panel and immediately backs himself up about ten steps before the door opens. He watches as it does, waiting for someone to jump out and rush at him.

But nothing happens. The door opens and reveals the dark inside of the ship, nothing comes out to attack him. Antok’s brow furrowed in confusion, staring at the open door for a moment before slowly advancing towards it with his weapon drawn.

As the large galra hesitantly made his way into the ship and his mask immediately honed in on the only other heat signature in the room. It was a tiny kit, laying on some blankets under the command console of the craft. The poor thing was thin and covered in their own mess, obviously having been by itself for several days. It seemed to be very young, possibly only a few months old.

Seeing the unexpected kit, Antok almost immediately sheathed his blade, deactivated his mask and headed over to make sure the kit was all right. Antok carefully took the kit into his arms, instinctively letting out a deep growling warble meant to soothe other galra. The kit seemed to be okay other than being dirty and hungry, letting out a quiet whine in return. He stayed quiet and cradled the tiny kit as they whimpered softly, too weak to do much else than that. Who the hell would leave such a defenseless thing on their own?

As the kit calmed down, Antok grabbed one of the cleaner blankets and used it to make a sling to hold the kit in so he could be hands-free. He then began to search the craft. He quickly gathered together any food and water supplies stored around the ship as well as its unused first-aid kit. Using a piece of the hull, a wire, and brute strength he put together a sled to carry everything on.

Then he was off, heading back to his ship with the kit held against his chest, safe in the sling.


	2. Revelations.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Antok realizes some things about himself and about Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for some backstory!! Next chapter, things will pick up more and we may just find out how Keith ended up where he was. 
> 
> Rating has changed!! Antok's backstory is fucked up and it involves a lot of child abuse, neglect, and violence. We will most likely talk more in-depth about his past in later installations, which will bump the rating up again.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy the fic!! If you want to contact me, hit me up on my tumblr: thatforestprince

By the time he made it back to his ship, the distant sun was beginning to disappear behind the horizon and the kit had long since fallen asleep.   
  
He drags the sled full of supplies into the ship and began to go through a particular box that seemed to be filled with supplies meant for the kit. He pulled out a soft blanket with something embroidered in purple on the side. It took the translators a moment to work out this unfamiliar language, but soon the words made themselves clear.  _ ‘Keith.’ _   
  
“Keith? Is that your name, little one?” Antok glanced down at the tiny kit. The kit, being fast asleep, of course didn’t reply. Keith didn’t sound like any galra name he had ever heard before, but it seemed to suit the little thing just fine. The large galra chuckled quietly to himself before tossing the blanket over on the small bed, intending to use it to make a nest for the kit later.   
  
Finally he found what he was looking for, some kit cleaning wipes. An almost perfect replacement for the galra tongue. Antok would have groomed the kit himself but he didn’t want to risk either of them getting sick while vulnerable and without any medical help. The large galra carefully removed Keith from his sling, much to the kit’s dismay, and began to thoroughly wipe them down as best he could. The tiny thing almost immediately began to whimper and whine from being woken up and from the cold wet feeling of the cleaning wipes. “I know kitling, it’s horrible. I’m almost done. Just be patient.”   
  
Just as Antok is beginning to clean Keith’s face, the kit suddenly sneezed loudly. Instead of the purple, large-eared furry galra kit he had begun to get used to, a strange pinkish alien was what he now held in his arms. They were entirely missing all their fur, their mane was now jet black instead of dark purple, and their eyes were no longer a bright yellow. Antok stared at the child in disbelief, his mouth gaping open, for a long moment before smiling widely. “Nice to know I’m not the only hybrid on this ship.”   
  
Antok then continued to wipe down the kit until they were mostly completely clean. There were a few spots that would need a more proper bath but this was all Antok could do for at the moment. Now, it was time for food. This tiny kit needed to start gaining some weight if they were to survive. He reached into the box of kit supplies to pull out a container of kit formula. For a moment Antok cursed his hybrid biology, with the natural armor plating that covered a large portion of his body including his chest he was unable to nurse. Natural milk would be so much better than any formula in the universe. He quickly shook himself out of those thoughts,  _ focus on the present _ , and moved to pour some water into a pot on a little stove in the corner of the ship so it could be boiled.   
  
While he waited for the water to boil, the large galra set the kit down and removed his armor so he was in his under armor suit. It could potentially be dangerous for the kit to be pressed up against his cold armor for too long while in the sling.   
  
Due to all the movements, the tiny kit was soon giving soft annoyed squeaks and chirps. Antok instinctively chirruped in return to assure Keith that everything was okay. He glanced over to the pot of water that was still heating up and sighed, this was probably going to take longer than he thought it would.   
  
So, Antok takes out a few toys for the kit to play with and lets them hang out on the floor for a while during his wait. Though, Keith seems much more interested in pulling on the large galra’s mane.   
  
\----------   
  
By the time the water was boiled and had cooled down, Keith had long since tuckered himself out and was fast asleep on a blanket laid out on the floor. Antok smiled softly at the kit before getting up to pour some of the boiled water into a glass bottle he’d retrieved from the supplies and carefully tipped some powdered formula into the bottle. He then shook it vigorously and tested the temperature on his wrist, it was just warm enough to help the kit’s body temperature return to normal.   
  
Antok moved to scoop Keith up into his free hand and bring them to his chest, rocking the kit gently to bring them out of their nap. “Wake up, kitling. I have food for you.”   
  
Almost as soon as they smelled the bottle, Keith was grabbing at it to attempt to drink it all by themselves. The large galra chuckled softly in amusement and carefully brought the bottle close so they could drink. As Antok watched the little one eat, a thought suddenly came into his head.   
  
_ He would die for this kit. _ __  
__  
_ He would do anything to ensure this kit would have a much better upbringing than he had had. _   
  
Antok had grown up in an orphanage belonging to the Aviiru subspecies of galra after his parents had abandoned him there. He had barely begun to walk when he was dropped off and he was quickly thrown into the harsh life of the Aviiru.   
  
These galra almost strictly went with their instincts, behaving almost as wild animals at some times. They have a strict concept of hierarchy and social order and Antok, being a very young hybrid, was immediately pushed to the bottom rungs of the social ladder. He had to steal food often and found himself on the receiving end of numerous beatings by the older and higher ranks of the orphans at the facility.   
  
He only rose in rank a few times, usually because of members leaving, during his time there but it didn’t do much to lessen his treatment. When he hit maturity though, he was kicked out of the orphanage and finally had free range to do whatever he wanted. He found the Blade of Marmora not long after and he’d been with them ever since. Suddenly, another thought came to him.   
  
_ He would most likely have to convince Kolivan and the other blades to let him keep the kit. _ __  
_  
_ **_Shit._ **


	3. Attack.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Antok has a crisis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for some more violence and a very short description of a dead body. Also (spoilers) some very slightly slightly hinted at past antok/krolia, depending on how you view it. It's pretty one-sided and antok's actions towards krolia are platonic.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy the fic!! If you want to contact me, hit me up on my tumblr: thatforestprince

The next day, Antok was faced with a dilemma. He needed to go out and search for more clues on Keith’s blade parent but he didn’t want to leave Keith alone. On the other hand, he couldn’t bring Keith with him. What would happen if someone or something attacked him? There would be nothing keeping his attacker from striking out and killing Keith.

 

He eventually decided to just leave the kit on the ship. After feeding him, he carefully tucked Keith into a nest of blankets on the bed and pulled a curtain in front of the bed shut to keep him obscured. He also made sure that the door to the ship would need a code and either his or his leader’s DNA to open, so hopefully Keith would stay safe while he was gone. Though, as he began to make his way in the direction of the ship he had found Keith on, he couldn’t help but worry.

 

\----------

 

It wasn’t very long before he found himself outside the other craft again. Everything was the same this time but… There was a scent in the air, faint but still there. The scent of _decay_.

 

Instinctively, Antok’s mouth watered. He couldn’t help the reaction, his species naturally survived off of carcases, but he pushed it back. He definitely wouldn’t he eating whatever was giving off the scent, as he knew it most likely wouldn’t be an animal. He glanced back at the ship for a moment before heading in the direction of the scent, whatever this was was much more important than anything he could find on the craft.

 

He only walked for about 10 minutes before coming across a small outcropping. Almost immediately did the source of the scent become clear.

 

Two bodies lay in the cold dark sand of the miserable little planet. One of them was farther out in the open and was wearing the armor of an empire soldier, they had obviously been dead the longest. The other body was also dressed in empire  armor and was slumped up against the outcropping but.. They had a blade gripped in one of their hands. Antok resisted the urge to whimper, losing a blade was always a hard blow to the organization. He… He needed to know who it was. As he slowly came towards the body, a sudden wheeze made him jump.

 

“S..Stay back…” Antok immediately knew who it was, Krolia. She was a senior blade member who had been assigned as a spy in the empire. He had actually had a crush on her when he first joined the blade and she was one of the people he had looked up to when training. She couldn’t even lift her head up, what the hell had happened? “It’s okay, I’m a blade. I’m not going to hurt you.”

 

Being spoken to seemed to bring her back into awareness. “W-Where’s my kit? Where’s Keith?”

 

“It’s alright. They’re back at my ship. They have been fed and cleaned and are safe in a nest.” Antok very carefully took Krolia into his arms, causing her to groan lowly in pain. He pressed his forehead to hers as gently as he could in a traditional greeting. The walk back to his ship took much longer than normal, as Antok tried his best not to jostle the poor galra, so Antok tried to keep her awake and talking. “I am Antok. Kolivan sent me to investigate your distress signal.”

 

Krolia gave effort to open her eyes and keep awake, looking up at Antok curiously. “Antok? I-I trained you for a while didn’t I?”

 

“Yes, you did. I was recommended you all by a weapons dealer. Kolivan recently upgraded me to High Command.” Antok said softly, making an effort not to show the pride that welled up in his chest.

 

“I knew you had the potential, so did Kolivan.” Antok winced inwardly at the idea of Kolivan caring about him. Kolivan couldn’t care about him, could they? He changed the topic. “May I ask where you got the little one? Keith?”

 

Krolia sighed softly before speaking. “I met an alien on my assigned planet and I loved him but.. The empire came and I had to leave to keep them away from the planet. I wasn’t aware I was carrying until I returned to the empire.”

 

“They are a very charming kit.” Antok stated matter-of-factly as if there was no question behind said statement. And suddenly, they had returned back at the large galra’ ship.

 

He gave himself a quick second to check on Keith, who was fast asleep before immediately rushing in to attempt to fix up Krolia’s wounds. He really wasn’t very good with first aid, not to mention this was so much worse than just first aid, but he couldn’t just let her die. Antok carefully wrapped his long tail around around her hand and squeezed it to keep her awake as best he could while he worked.

 

\----------

 

Antok carefully placed an unconscious Krolia into the nest as gently as he could, making sure to pull the blankets up to her neck. He had managed to save her, with a couple close calls, and now he was exhausted. As he pulled away from the bed, he cooed softly at the tiny little kit tucked against his chest who was demanding to be fed. He pulled out a bottle he had prepared earlier to give to the kit. Luckily they seemed to have calmed down much more compared to last time, but still eagerly grasped at the bottle as if they could hold it up themselves. The large hybrid made his way over to a pile of blankets that had been discarded from the nest and fell into them with an audible thump. Keith gave a soft whine of protest at the movement and Antok quickly quieted it with a soft growling warble.

 

Looking down at the tiny thing, a hint of worry moved through him. What would Krolia want to do with little Keith? Antok wasn’t sure if he could handle being separated from the kit should she want it back… No, he knows he could handle it. He knew he shouldn’t have become attached. Attachments made people week.

He resisted the urge to growl as he laid back down into the blankets. He would discuss this with Krolia tomorrow and go from there. There was no use worrying himself into a wreck in the middle of the night. He sighed softly through his nose and set a hand over the kit to keep them warm. _Everything would turn out okay..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First writing this, I really didn't know how I was going to work out the story and was thinkin of just leaving it ambiguous. But, I couldn't do that to Krolia. I love her too much. Updates and comment replies might slow down a bit, as my life has gotten a bit hectic. This chapter was supposed to be a lot longer, but I wanted to get it out before this weekend so y'all would know I'll be quiet.


	4. Decisions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Krolia and Antok are dorks for like five seconds and then we go immediately to angst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Khal was the blade leader before Kolivan and as you will see, really not the best.

Antok woke with a start, subconscious screaming that there was danger around him. The fear was almost immediately replaced by confusion as a sharp pain bloomed in his forehead, had he hit his head on something? He opened his eyes and looked around himself quickly, eyes soon landing on Krolia who was off to the side gripping her forehead. Had… Had Krolia been watching him sleep? “Were you watching me sleep?”

“No! I was checking on you. You were crying out in your sleep.”

Instead of replying to the other galra because honestly he really didn’t want to unpack all that right now, his ears were drawn to a quiet whimpering coming from his chest. Little Keith was gripping tightly to his fur after having been jostled around by Antok sitting up so suddenly. The large galra quickly comforted the kit with a few gentle nuzzles. He felt a deep purr rising in his chest but immediately resisted it, he really didn’t want to purr in front of Krolia.

“Keith seems to love you a lot.” Krolia sat cross-legged on the floor a small bit away, doing her best to remain a respectful distance. She knew Antok didn’t trust her, especially with a kit in his care. She would have to re-earn his trust if she wanted to get close to him.

“They are quite the loving little kit. They had been alone for a few days when I found them, I think they missed the attention.” Antok wouldn’t admit the kit had become attached to him, he was bad with his emotions like that. His fear of being emotionally open had been ingrained in him since he was just a cub. Emotions were something others could use against you. “Will you be taking Keith back to the empire?”

“I love him a lot but… No, I can’t. I don’t want him to grow up in that kind of environment. How would I even explain a hybrid kit to my superiors? They would kill me for just taking a non-galra to bed, much less having a kit with one.” She sighed softly, obviously upset about the circumstances. “The mission matters more, I can’t take him. Could you bring him with you back to the blade?”

“I would love to, but I don’t know how Kolivan would feel about it. It has been a very long time since we’ve had a kit on base… I do not think Kolivan would want Keith to be a distraction from my duties.” Antok paused for a moment, thinking everything over, before speaking again. “But I would take him with me, either way. I would not let Kolivan stop me.”

Antok hadn’t even realized that until now. He would defy his leader for this kit. That… That was a scary and dangerous thought. Antok had always been one of the blade’s most loyal soldiers and always followed Kolivan’s orders, no matter what said orders had him do. Fucking hell, he had gotten attached just like he said he hadn’t. Before he could dissolve too far into panic, Krolia spoke again. “Thank you for caring about Keith so much. I know you’ll be an excellent guardian for him.”

The lightly furred parts of Antok’s ears quickly flushed a dull light blue in embarrassment and he immediately rushed to deny these accusations, but before he could say anything he was distracted by a beeping coming from the control console of his spacecraft. The large galra carefully handed the small kit over to Krolia before heading over to see what it was. The screen detailed that there was a ship entering the atmosphere, one that didn’t have the normal energy signatures of Empire ships. Antok knew said signature by heart. “The rescue ship is entering the atmosphere. We will need to get ready to get going.”

Krolia nods solemnly before giving Keith a gentle nuzzle and setting him down in his nest on the bed, taking a second to make sure he’s comfortable. As she rushed to gather her things together and prepare the craft to be boarded, Antok sent a confirmation transmission to the craft to let them know they were still alive and waiting to be rescued.

Once the rescue craft arrived, Antok quickly began loading the supplies he had found onto the craft. The blade member who had come to rescue them gave the larger galra a weird look as he set down a box of kit supplies in the craft. Antok’s tail lashed lightly, his body language daring the other to comment. Luckily for them, they said nothing.

\----------

It was hours later by the time they reached a nearby blade outpost. Thankfully, Keith had slept almost the entire time they traveled, waking only briefly to be fed. Unfortunately, though Krolia couldn’t stay around any longer, she needed to get back to the Empire immediately lest her superiors begin to worry about her absence. She gave Keith a gentle nuzzle before heading off, leaving Antok to face Kolivan alone.

It wasn’t long until the main console of this small base dinged to announce an incoming transmission. The large galra hesitated for just a moment before reaching forward to answer the call, standing defiantly with Keith in his arms as Kolivan’s face flickered on-screen. Kolivan regarded him cooly for a long moment before speaking calmly. “What is that?”

“It is a kit.” Antok said just as calmly. He would not let his leader scare him.

“Whose kit is it?”  
  
“It is Krolia’s. She conceived it during her on-planet mission with one of the locals and was unaware of the pregnancy until she was back with the Empire. She could not bring him back to the Empire due to their policy against hybrids.”

The other galra let out a slow breath through their nose before speaking again, their voice hinted by a touch of anger. “You know I do not want kits growing up within the blade anymore. That is not how I operate.”

Antok’s heart hurt for Kolivan. He knows they had been close to the last kit who had grown up within the blade. “You are not Khal. I know you will not treat this kit like Khal did to the other kits. I trust you to make him a warrior when he is ready, like you did with me.”

Antok watched as a brief flash of surprise at his words went across Kolivan’s face before they quickly went back to their usual stoicness. “Fine, you may take him to the main base. However, you will share the duty of caring for him with a few other blades of my choice so you are still able to go on missions. I expect a full report filed on this incident by the time you arrive on base.”

“Of course, my leader.” And just like that, the image of his leader flickered away and left Antok and Keith alone in the dark. Antok let out a loud breath as relief washed through him. He looked down at the tiny sleeping kit in his arms and smiled widely. Keith would be okay. Keith could stay with him.

He was going to raise a kit. All his silent wishes as a kit to grow up and raise a family came flooding back to him. This might not be exactly what he imagined, but he was happy with what he could get in this horrible war.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading, I'm so glad many of you have enjoyed this fic. There may or may not be more parts to this series. I want to write them but my interest in voltron has been waning. If there are any more parts, they will come extremely slowly. Either way, I hope y'all liked this last chapter.


End file.
